Self-hosted alternatives to WordPress.com

Blog and site hosted on your own infrastructure. Below are 12 open source options you host on your own server — with no monthly per-user fee and full control of your data.

Strapi

★ 72,630

Strapi is a headless CMS that generates a ready-made REST/GraphQL API to power sites, apps and front-ends. Self-hosted, it gives you full control over the content model, database and hosting, with no platform fees.

Content Management Systems (CMS) MIT

Ghost

★ 54,361

Ghost is a publishing and newsletter platform built for creators, with paid subscriptions built in. Self-hosted, it's the alternative to Medium and Substack with no cut taken from your subscribers.

Blogging Platforms MIT

Payload CMS

★ 43,482

Developer-first headless CMS and application framework.

Content Management Systems (CMS) MIT

WordPress

★ 21,247

World's most-used blogging and CMS engine.

Content Management Systems (CMS) GPL-2.0

Wagtail

★ 20,388

Django content management system focused on flexibility and user experience.

Content Management Systems (CMS) BSD-3-Clause

october

★ 11,142

CMS platform based on the Laravel PHP Framework.

Content Management Systems (CMS) ⊘ Proprietary

KeystoneJS

★ 9,915

CMS and web application platform.

Content Management Systems (CMS) MIT

Umbraco

★ 5,213

The friendly CMS. Free and open source with an amazing community.

Content Management Systems (CMS) MIT

WriteFreely

★ 5,197

Writing software for starting a minimalist, federated blog — or an entire community.

Blogging Platforms AGPL-3.0

Joomla!

★ 5,103

Advanced Content Management System (CMS).

Content Management Systems (CMS) GPL-2.0

MediaCMS

★ 5,006

Modern, fully featured open source video and media CMS, written in Python/Django/React, featuring a REST API.

Media Streaming - Video StreamingContent Management Systems (CMS) AGPL-3.0

Apostrophe

★ 4,585

CMS with a focus on extensible in-context editing tools.

Content Management Systems (CMS) MIT

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free self-hosted alternative to WordPress.com?

Yes. We've gathered 12 self-hosted, open source alternatives to WordPress.com — including Strapi, Ghost, Payload CMS. You run all of them on your own server.

What is the best open source alternative to WordPress.com?

Strapi is one of the most popular (72,630 GitHub stars). The "best" depends on your case — compare the options below.

Do I need a server to replace WordPress.com?

Yes. You can use a home server (homelab) or a cheap VPS (from ~€4/mo). See the hosting suggestions on this page.